One of the things I learned early on in my entrepreneurial journey is that, while opportunities come to everyone, not everyone is ready for the opportunities that come to them. I made this short video tip to emphasize this point.
After I posted this video to Instagram, one of our members, Carrie Seibert of Soap Commander, asked for some practical tips to prepare yourself for opportunities before they come. This is a legitimate question. After all, how can you prepare for something in advance, when you don't know what you are preparing for?
One thing I have discovered is that the act of preparing itself is what frequently brings about the opportunity in the first place. Here is an example.
Preparation Attracts Opportunity
Before I left my “real” job to become a soapmaker, I self-published a book on how to make your own creams and lotions and started selling it on email list groups. At the time, I was also teaching classes in my own retail store and in local Whole Foods Market locations. I had no real plans beyond that. I was just doing what I loved, trying to make a go of a retail store and teaching studio, and hoping to make a name for myself and the products I made.
A year after I started selling the book, a publisher called and asked me if I would allow them to help me edit the book so they could publish it. After thinking it over for a nanosecond, I agreed. A few years later, Making Aromatherapy Creams and Lotions was born.
If You Don't Find Your Voice, No One Else Will Want to Listen to It
I found my voice by publishing a book using the resources I had, before anyone else was interested in what I had to say.
Blogging works in the same way. It's one of the reasons it is critical all small business owners blog regularly. Blogging helps you find your voice. You can see this in action in this post where several Indie Business Network members summarize the “voice-finding” power of their blogs.
Blogging helps you make a habit out of speaking your mind and refining your vision for your business. If you don't do this yourself, you cannot really expect anyone else to want to care much about your mind or your vision.
Conclusion
Whether it's by blogging, publishing your own books, micro-blogging using services like Instagram or Twitter, or even podcasting, the written and spoken word is advance preparation for opportunities you cannot possibly even imagine.
If you want your business to grow and be sustainable for the long term, you've got to find a way to repeatedly find and publish your voice.
With so many easy to use technological tools today, it's easier than ever to speak up for yourself and be prepared long in advance for opportunities that are perfect for you.
Question
How do you find your voice? What tools do you use? Do you prefer to speak or write? Or maybe color, paint, draw or take pictures? I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback in the comments below, or share on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
